This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-15054 filed on Jan. 23, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to wireless controllers for remote-controlling predetermined electronic devices through wireless communication, and also to power supply methods of the controllers.
A conventional video game machine is generally made up from a game machine main body for executing a video game by controlling the action of a game character or the like, and a game controller to be operated by a game player. The game controller is provided with various operation buttons, keys, etc, to be operated by the player. The game controller is further provided with an LED (Light Emitting Diode) for informing the player of, e.g., an operation mode, or may be provided with a vibration mechanism in which a weight is eccentrically mounted on the rotational axis of an electric motor to vibrate the body of the game controller.
In general, the game controller is connected with the game machine main body through a cable. The game controller sends operation signals that indicate operated states of the above-described operation buttons and so on to the game machine main body. The game machine main body supplies electric power to the game controller. Besides, the game machine main body sends various control signals for controlling, e.g., ON/OFF of the LED and the operation of the vibration mechanism, to the game controller.
Recently, to avoid the inconvenience that the cable is a hindrance to handling the game controller and the cable length restricts the distance between the game machine main body and the game controller, it has been suggested to connect the game controller with the game machine main body by wireless using, e.g., infrared rays or low-power RF (Radio Frequency) signals.
If the game controller is connected with the game machine main body by wireless, the power for the game controller would likely have to be supplied from a battery (primary or secondary battery).
Such a battery, however, has a limit in its capacity, even though the playing of a game may continue for a long time. It is therefore desirable that such a game controller be designed to operate for as long a time as possible within the limited battery capacity.
An object of the present invention is to provide wireless controllers, such as game controllers and the like, to communicate with video game machine main bodies by wireless communication, and operable for a long time even with a limited battery capacity.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of supplying power to such a controller.
According to the present invention, the internal components of a wireless controller for remote-controlling a predetermined electronic device through wireless communication are classified into at least two groups in accordance with the degrees of functional importance and/or the power consumptions of the components. A separate power supply system is provided for each group of components.
In this manner, for at least one group of components (e.g., whose functions are highly important or whose power consumptions are low), a power supply for a long time can be ensured.
Further particular and preferred aspects of the present invention are set out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. Features of the dependent claims may be combined with features of the independent claims as appropriate, and in combinations other than those explicitly set out in the claims.